ANOTHER TOP DAY WITH THE DISCOVERY OF A LESVOS RARITY: CALANDRA LARK FOUND BY ME THIS AFTERNOON
Our early morning pre-breakfast excursion found us at the Kalloni Salt Pans at 6:45am, it was quite cool with a blue sky and absolutely no breeze. The water everywhere was like a mirror. We stopped at the first couple of pans and listed the usual waders: Wood sandpiper, Black-winged Stilts, Avocet etc. As we drove round to the centre of the area we added a few terns to our list. We then saw a flock of Black-tailed Godwits flying in the distance they came down to feed in a nearby salt pan. The sky was full birds, mainly terns but also many flocks of Ruff had dropped into the pools along with Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper. A short trip around the pans to get a better view of the Godwits produced Ruddy Turnstone, Spotted Redshank and we finally caught up with Temminck's Stint which dropped in just in front us unnoticed for a while as we scanned more distant birds.
We then drove round the back of the salt pans to view the beach area, a good move as we found several new species for our list. Eurasian Oystercatcher was seen distantly along the shore as was Eurasian Curlew and a Stone Curlew was found quite close to us. We then found a Short-toed Lark, a species that is few and far between this yea.
 |
| the group birding along the Napi village track |
 |
| a couple of views of the Rufous Bush Robin |
 |
| Add caption |
After breakfast we spent the rest of the day in two location along the Napi Valley, a valley that links the east and west coasts and is an excellent fly-way for migrating birds. However, there was a strong easterly wind today and we didn't see many raptors. We walked a track just west of the village of Napi and despite the wind we found some sheltered spots where passerines were seen. Common Nightingales sang ans showed, as did Olivaceous Warbler and it wasn't long before we made contact with our target species the Sombre Tit. We had several sightings, mostly brief but good enough. A stake-out at Middle Spotted Woodpecker's hole also proved successful, we also noted Turtle Dove, Little Owl and Long-legged Buzzard.
We drove to the top of the valley noting Long-legged Buzzards, Jay, Bee-eater and Red-rumped Swallow. After eating our picnic lunch we walked a long track to an area called Mavria, the track that climbed quite high near some two masts. It was during the heat of the afternoon and not many species showed: Cretzschmar's Bunting, Masked Shrike, Woodchat Shrike, Long-legged Buzzard, Northern Goshawk and a couple of Red-footed Falcons.
 |
| Masked Shrike |
It was now 4pm so we decided to re-visit the Kalloni Salt Pans and what a great decision that turned out to be. The 'pans' were brimming with birds, lot more waders and terns had dropped in. We drove round to the Alykes sheep fields first to look for larks and pipits. Within a few minutes were watching a Short-toed Lark but other species eluded us until we put up a larger lark, wow I knew that one, distinctive white trailing edge to the wing and the call, both recognisable as a CALANDRA LARK. This bird dropped down some 100 meters away and allowed to get near enough for great views, this is only the 8th sighting of this species and first one for 10 years!! Great find! We went on to see another 3 Temminck's Stints and a pool full of Ruff and Wood Sandpipers, other species recorded were Yellow Wagtail, Kentish Plover and a single Red-throated Pipit.
 |
| record shots of the Calandra Lark |
Back at the pans it was mayhem, I put the word out about the lark and many people were driving round to look for it and at the same time many others were watching the spectacle in the pans' The light was superb as we watched thousands of birds feeding out there. Nearly 1000 Ruff were present along with: Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Grey Plover (4), Spotted Redshank (2) and many Avocets. The number of terns had greatly increased since this morning with good numbers of White-winged Terns, Whiskered Terns, Little Terns and Common Terns, a good find was a couple of Sandwich Terns.
It was now getting late so we had leave this magical place and drive round to the hotel to get ready for dinner,
No comments:
Post a Comment